Knitting Iristag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1640022013-04-16T23:46:00-06:00Knitting and breathing under the big sky.TypePadinjuredtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2017d42dea13e970c2013-04-16T23:46:00-06:002013-04-17T02:28:43-06:00An impromptu chilly morning walk after dropping the boys off at school. Cold and caffeine kept the pace brisk. The camera slowed it down. There was a sense of injury, disorder, messiness, damage, disturbance, bruising. Also a certain healing, repair,...knittingiris

An impromptu chilly morning walk after dropping the boys off at school.

Cold and caffeine kept the pace brisk. The camera slowed it down.

There was a sense of injury, disorder, messiness, damage, disturbance, bruising.

Also a certain healing, repair, in the freeze-thaw cycle and chaotic patterning.

Near to the car again, a rustling commotion:

A bald eagle limping and faltering, hobbling along on the ground and dishevelled.

Watching briefly from a distance, it was time to go, to let things be,

impossible not to note the symbolism in light of yesterday's violence.

falling stars quilttag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2017c3895b637970b2013-04-13T14:18:03-06:002013-04-13T14:32:08-06:00I knew that a quilt for my mom had to be blue and white, as blue is the color she predictably, consistently, almost exclusively, gravitates towards. It needed to be a pattern that I thought she would like, that I...knittingiris

I knew that a quilt for my mom had to be blue and white, as blue is the color she predictably, consistently, almost exclusively, gravitates towards.

It needed to be a pattern that I thought she would like, that I would enjoy making, and one that wouldn't take years to make. She is 81 after all.

She was born & raised in Norway and, 60 years after leaving there, is deeply connected with her roots, family, and friends still, both there and here in the U.S.

This is the tutorial I followed, using cutting measurements for the largest sized star.

The white is Kona 'Snow' and is the only fabric bought specifically for this project. Most of the blue fabrics are either from 2nd hand clothing or thrifted fabrics. The rest are leftover from other projects.

One star is made with leftover fabric from an attempt my mom made at venturing into the world
of quilting herself a few years back (fifth row down, 4th column from left). It turned out not to be her
thing. She's a knitter through and through.

The backing is not necessarily a print I would have chosen if this quilt were intended for me but it's one that I thought my mom would like, and in the end it was just the right choice.

I opted for flannel for the backing as my mom has become an increasingly tinier person who, while hale and hearty, is easily chilled now, even during the summer months.

She's also been dealing with some new and difficult challenges, particularly over this past winter.

I guess this quilt is an attempt to wrap her in warmth and comfort and coziness from afar.

There are 12 extra star blocks, enough to assemble into a baby blanket, and I'll most certainly be visiting this pattern again, hopefully soon and in a more varied spectrum.

early spring walktag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2017eea2b80c8970d2013-04-11T10:01:16-06:002013-04-11T11:22:49-06:00A quick walk while the boys were at baseball practice and in clay class, after errands, only a 15 minute window. Returning from a week wandering in the desert, Feeling the need to continue to be outside, Emerge from winter,...knittingiris

A quick walk while the boys were at baseball practice and in clay class,

after errands, only a 15 minute window.

Returning from a week wandering in the desert,

Feeling the need to continue to be outside,

Emerge from winter,

Become grounded in this place again.

Jumping back into life.

Still processing.

(and thank you for the kind 'welcome back'!)

a morningtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2017ee8ce7379970d2013-02-28T11:21:15-07:002013-02-28T11:31:02-07:00hi. it's been one very long time. a little rusty, for certain, yet i found it to be a little like the proverbial 'riding a bike'. wasn't sure if i'd remember how to log in. will it stick? time will...knittingiris

hi.

it's been one very long time.

a little rusty, for certain, yet i found it to be a little like the proverbial 'riding a bike'.

not left insidetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2015390488a6f970b2011-07-30T01:46:16-06:002011-07-30T01:52:41-06:00this (altered) liscence plate we saw could not have said it better! don't get me wrong. our kids spend a lot of time indoors living like lumps, but usually with a book in hand. we've made a no-books-in-the-woods rule recently,...knittingiris

this (altered) liscence plate we saw could not have said it better!

don't get me wrong. our kids spend a lot of time indoors living like lumps,

but usually with a book in hand.

we've made a no-books-in-the-woods rule recently, otherwise they wouldn't even notice all this world around themselves.

we really needed a day like this, the boys and i, together,

just goofing off in the woods.

from water balloon fights in the yard one day,

to snowball fights in the mountains the next.

yeah!

tomorrow they go hiking with papa.

adventures!

i've got my orange crushtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2015433fab702970c2011-07-24T23:46:00-06:002011-07-25T09:12:34-06:00late afternoon out on our trusty but little-used 'orange crush'. braved the rough, puddle-ridden road. got 'skunked' with regards to the fish. plucked a small handful of wild currants. a few sprigs of heavenly scented mockorange and grand fir. e...knittingiris

late afternoon out on our trusty but little-used 'orange crush'.

braved the rough, puddle-ridden road.

got 'skunked' with regards to the fish.

plucked a small handful of wild currants.

a few sprigs of heavenly scented mockorange and grand fir.

e spent a good hour or more wading, catching crawdads,

and a couple of blue gills in a net.

couldn't bring myself to buy nasty orange soda.

opted instead for a club soda and orange juice combo,

chilled in the lake for hours.

pb&j sandwiches on the water.

grilled cheeses and garden greens for dinner back home.

the perfect way to spend a summer sunday afternoon.

and, yes, there was some knitting, too.

HOPE YOU'RE OUT ENJOYING THE SEASON!

OK!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e201543321019b970c2011-06-20T01:03:27-06:002011-06-20T01:10:32-06:00yes, indeed, things are really and truly o.k. i know, i know. i fell off the blogging planet around here a few months ago... to the point where concerned emails and comments are starting to roll in. please accept my...knittingiris

yes, indeed, things are really and truly o.k.i know, i know. i fell off the blogging planet around here a few months ago...to the point where concerned emails and comments are starting to roll in.

please accept my apology for my absence here, but life has just been busy, busy, busy,and, in the meantime, my blogging mojo just faded away.

life has been filled with all the usuals:

homeschooling,cooking & baking,caring for the animals,visiting with family (both here and away),spinning, knitting, sewing, dyeing, quilting,gardening,gathering, sorting, washing, delivering, and selling of eggs:hundreds and hundreds of eggs each week,reading (not as much as i'd like),

and so on and so on and so on and so on...

feeling a little scattered much of the time.

wanting more quality and quantity time to finish up some projects,start new ones,try new things,learn new skills.

and always wishing for,more chill time together as a family,more time with friends...in person, not on facebook,more quiet time alone,more hours in the day,more sleep at night.

also, it's been a long, loooooooong winter here.

my eyes are still adjusting to the impossibly lush green growth all around, shocked still by the lack of white snow,and half loving/half sick of the grey skies.

we are still processing the idea that summer solstice will be here in only a couple of days.how can this be?

that white stuff in front of the mountains in the picture above? that is snow falling up there, only a few days ago. yes, really.last weekend people were still heading up the road beyond us to go snowmobiling.we're still hauling in wood and lighting fires at least once a day or evening.

it's all just a little bit absurd, in the best of ways, mind you.

another thing is that my camera went on the fritz last month so i've been using the tiny, point & shoot backup camera with no view finder. yes, i'm still taking pics, but it isn't very inspiring, and it's difficult to capture that which i'm seeing with it.

all that said, i'm still posting over on flickr on a far more regular basis than i have been over here, so if you're worried, please feel free to check in on us over there. there is a link to my photostream in the sidebar at right.

thank you so much for your inquiries.life is full. and good.

st. pat'stag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2014e5ff96565970c2011-03-19T13:31:44-06:002011-03-19T13:38:13-06:00knittingiris

extremestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2014e5f715995970c2011-03-04T17:19:02-07:002011-03-04T18:56:08-07:00My new winter 2010/11 motto: "All or Nothing". It's seems it's either 40-50 degrees and raining or bitter cold and blowing. Today* it's in the single digits, the winds started up yesterday, roared all through the night, and are continuing...knittingiris

My new winter 2010/11 motto: "All or Nothing".

It's seems it's either 40-50 degrees and raining or bitter cold and blowing.

Today* it's in the single digits, the winds started up yesterday, roared all through the night, and are continuing on through today.

That's our friend's truck, stuck this morning in the 2-3 foot snowdrifts across our driveway. All that lovely snow that fell Tuesday making it look like the perfect winter wonderland around here, if only for a day before the artic northeastern winds kicked up.

The house is toasty and warm and bright, though. One boy is fevering & reading on the couch. The other is doing his math work, albeit a little reluctantly. I am puttering away at the sewing machine. C is over at the shop building cabinets for a client's kitchen.

We didn't even bother opening the coops, although a single hen escaped, slipping past me and out the door, until I found her hunkered down trying to lay her egg amongst the hay bale stacks and escorted her back inside.

The soon-to-be-mama-sheep are staying in today, too. (We used to call this space home, ourselves, living right here for 3 and a half years in our old 50's travel trailer.)

Bo, the ram (I prefer to spell it Beau) has a pen by the shop, with his own little barn on the leeward side of the shop, just below the deck outside my craft room.

So, he's plenty cozy, even if a little lonely.

The horses? Well, let's just say I was thinking about them the most as the winds howled through the night, but they've been let into the pen that allows them to stand downwind of trees and a horse trailer to get out of the weather, and they get extra big rations of hay when it's like this out there.

Back in the house, we're stoking the fire and I'm notfeeling guilty whatsoever for sewing away while the bread bakes, the soup pot simmers, the boys play and do their schoolwork, and the cat naps the day away.

* mind you, this was a post I put together on Thursday of a week ago but never managed to finish and post. Since then, it has snowed several times more, rained on and off, and now it is sunny with temps just above freezing. Like I said, we're in the land of extremes.

p.s. we have at least 2 sheep in labor!

not nola's slippperstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451ebaa69e2014e5f90ec54970c2011-03-01T10:06:28-07:002011-03-01T10:16:38-07:00Playing catch up here on some things, starting with these slippers made in January when one of my toes was complaining loudly of the bitter cold with chilblains, for the second year in a row, and my mind was complaining...knittingiris

Playing catch up here on some things, starting with these slippers made in January when one of my toes was complaining loudly of the bitter cold with chilblains, for the second year in a row,

and my mind was complaining of the dreary grey skies and blah snow & icy conditions.

These are Nola's Slippers. Only, they're not. They're mine, and they're super cozy, made of scrap worsted weight wools, held double. More details on Ravelry here.

(taken just before leaving for Mexico last month, with newly glittered toes underneath, ready for sunshine and heat, sand and ocean waves!)